On June 4th I'll be 32... and 500lbs if I don't do something now!

[Prime Ordeal]

TL;DR - I need help, and fitness friends, a.s.a.p

So what do I say here... Hi, I'm Amber. I'm a 31 yr old 6'2" female from the southeastern United States. I'm unemployed, live with my mom, and have never held a job for more than a month, outside of being a nanny which I am extremely good at. My scales stopped reading at something around 425lbs a few months back, and since then I've done nothing but talk down to myself mentally about why I am too lazy to do anything about that. I've decided tonight that this has to stop. I'll spare everyone the sob stories and just suffice it to say I have approximately 200lbs of baggage I think it's high time I got rid of.

 

Some non-sad background: I'm a gamer, an animal lover, a people watcher, and a creative thinker. I like picking up heavy things so I hope that will work in my favor on my quest for greatness. I'm easy going and not much, outside of whats in my own head, bothers me. And despite the overall semi-depressive tone of this opening, I actually have a very good sense of humor and am usually an extremely cheerful person.

What brought me here was my sister Heather... well, by proxy. She finished a 51 mile mountain biking event today, which is amazing to me since I can barely walk to the mailbox without getting winded lol and I felt inspired to do something, and stop tempting fate, because other than my weight, I'm healthy. I'd like to be able to say "I'm healthy." without that small added preamble.

I don't really eat poorly, and I drink lots and lots of water. No soda, barely any bread at all... it's just that laziness. Time to get up and get moving.

 

Any suggestions? I'm all ears... err, eyes?

[El Exorcisto]

The first thing I would suggest is getting a notebook and tracking the calorie count on every single thing you put in your mouth. Do that for a week, take an average of it, and slash 1000 off the top. Eat at that for a few months. If you stop losing weight then reassess calorie intake and do it again. If you are talking about gaining 75 pounds in a few months you are eating at a very high surplus. Get that under control ASAP.

 

Next up, is addressing your conditioning. To start, I'd say do three laps back and forth to the mail box three times a day. When you stop getting winded from that, add another lap. When you get bored and it gets easy then start walking around the block a couple times a day. After that clock off a mile in a car and do that a couple times a day. By then you'll have a good feel for what you should do next, whether it involves moving faster or farther.

 

Between laps to the mailbox, pick up a newspaper and find a job. Being a grown-up sucks balls, and working is part of being a grown-up. It doesn't matter how shitty the job or what the pay is, just do it. It will get you away from food for 40 hours of the week, and will force you to be on your feet and moving more than you are now. It will suck, you will hate it, and likely want to retreat back to mom's house. Don't. Suffer through it.

 

That's it. Eat less, do more, profit. Picking up heavy things can come when you have your own cash flow for a gym membership and are in good enough condition to walk there.

 

Everything in life must be balanced. Times of gluttony must be balanced with times of hunger. Laziness needs to be balanced with initiative. If you don't temper the good with the bad you end up having a scale that stops working, unemployed, living with mom and all of the bad feels that go along with the situation you describe. You've had an easy ride for a while from the sounds of it. It's time to suffer.

[Prime Ordeal]

I apologize for not responding until now, I took your advice and so far, the total is 11292 calories which sounds like a freaking lot haha and that isn't including tomorrow to complete the week of counting. So something like 13k a week including tomorrow's count. I'm not sure if it makes a difference, but can too much "healthy" food be bad for you? I do have an avocado weakness, which I understand to be like the butter of fruits Are there "good calories" and "bad calories"? So after I take 1000 off the top of my total, I'm going to start walking up and down my road. The mailbox isn't really very far and I think I can muster more willpower than that in a day. Thanks for all the advice and time you took giving it, it's very appreciated.

[Artemis]

As far as "good calories"/"bad calories" goes there's kind of a mixed opinion on that.  Some people believe you can eat whatever you want as long as the calories count fits your goals.  You can lose weight doing eating that way, and you can also lose weight by eating "good calories."  People have success with both.

 

I look at it this way - to lose weight I have to eat at a deficit and/or get my body into that deficit through exercise.  Your body also tends to want to consume more when you are eating at a deficit; it thinks there is a problem.  Sometimes you're almost more hungry, or at least you think you are.  Personally, I find it difficult to drastically restrict the amount of food I'm eating, so I simply adjust what I'm eating.  For example, a bag of chips probably won't make me feel very full, but it's got a lot of calories in it.  On the other hand, a bunch of veggies might add up to a similar calorie total, but be much more filling.  I feel that eating better quality foods helps me lose weight without feeling hungry all the time.  I can, for the most part, eat as much as I want as long as I watch the quality of the food.  This is just my personal take on the whole "good calories"/"bad calories" issue.  People have success with both, I just feel one way is easier for me personally.  Just remember: you can't outrun your fork.

 

I'm sure someone else will chime in soon with even better information.

 

Best wishes,

Artemis

[El Exorcisto]

That 1000 needs to come off your daily calories, not weekly. I have a suspicion you either consciously or subconsciously ignored some of the food you ate, although I could be wrong.  2k calories a day doesn't seem capable of putting 75 pounds on in even 6 months, as it would have you at TDEE of 500 calories, which isn't compatible with breathing. I'm not here to judge, just inform you that everything that goes in your mouth has the ability to add fat, avocados and rice cakes included. Calories are calories when it comes to cutting weight, so eating enough avocados to put you over your goal calories will still keep you from losing weight.

[Prime Ordeal]

Nah, I understand. No judgement taken. I don't usually eat poorly or in excess... but when I do, I'd imagine it's pretty damaging which is what I've always figured was doing me in. It's possible I missed adding in a meal, but I don't think I did. The 500lbs wasn't quite literally, just that 3 or so months ago i was 425 and I've always had a steady gain in weight even  back when I was a kid so I went with 500 (75lbs between then and June) Nice round number, lest I change my habits. Regardless of the semantics of it, your advice still makes sense. Eat less, get out and move around more. I had figured there was going to be some sort of magical science to it, macronutrients and micronutrients and empty calories and all these other things I see and have no idea what they mean lol Knowing now that the answer was pretty simple, I feel silly that I even had to ask for advice 

[El Exorcisto]

There is no magic pill or superfood. Eat less, do more, profit.

[Johnnielow]

El Exercisto has given you some great advice, now let me add some motivation. It is cliche maybe, but as Steve says, you can't out work your fork. You need to get your diet in control immediately. You can do it, you have taken the first step by coming here and admitting you need help. Good for you, now make it happen! Good luck!!

[Prime Ordeal]

There is no magic pill or superfood. Eat less, do more, profit.

No no lol I know that. I didn't mean to imply that xD

[CaptainTightpants]

Hey. Know how you feel. Came back to Australia from a nice high paying job in Asia with the high life to only to live like a peasant again.

I packed on six kilos in the six weeks after I got back in September 2011. Kept on climbing with the fact you go everywhere in a car here.

Intermittent employment in shitty jobs has led to a rotating two weekly contract that while nice paying, is lousy for any long term job security with a family.

 

Not a day would go by without me wondering "why I'd brought us back here?".

 

Turned around eight weeks ago after cancelled gastric sleeve surgery in  September 2013 and went to my new  doc near my new house, who said he hated the idea of me gettng it now and wanted to try everything else. I was so ashamed of my weight  when the doc weighed me I begged him to not tell me.

I was put on meds, a week later I bought them and a few days after that, started using my Jetts membership which I hadnt touched since 2012 (yah I know Gyms are dumb n stuff if you use them wrong. Love the free weights section, but have loads of injuries to spine so supported stuff is vital at times, while I'm rebuilding my strength)

 

That was 11 kilos and 25lbs ago.

 

I had knee pain from the work induced Sciatica that bordered on needing Diazepam and Panadeine/Codeine just to get through the day without writhing agony has gone.

My chest pains have gone.

At Xmas I was on Crutches having come down an escalator rushing for a train and tore the meniscus in my knee I was moving that fast with that much weight slamming onto my knee. It still hurts but not like it used to..Hell Yesterday.. I RAN to the train... UP a set of Stairs, DOWN another set of stairs, through the turnstile and across the platform into and through the closing doors of a Perth commuter train...  everyone on the train smiled!

 

What I've done is not the strictest form of thing going on here. I run my life by these two precepts. On exercise, Something is better than Nothing. On Diet, Nothing is better than anything.  It is always best to stick to the plan you have and the regime you follow for your diet. But in moments of temptation or weakness, this has been my hail mary pass.

 

This doesn't solve my long term career prospects. I have a skill set useful throughout the world and quite well paying but not in my homeland. But now, I have a plan. I have a purpose. I'm not dwelling on the negatives. Worst comes to worse I will go back overseas to support my family, but that is last ditch. LOL My plan B has a Plan B

 

If you are determined, you will prevail. Nothing like the fight of your life to sharpen the senses and the drive to victory. Everyday you get up, do something, be itj ob exercise diet or ideally all three, you are one day closer to ultimate victory.

 

Keep fighting the good fight.